Quick Biographical Reads

Within the past two weeks I’ve read two books I’ve had on my Goodreads list for a while. These biographies were quick, mindless, and page turning reads. Non-fiction reading can be light! So if you are afraid to venture into non-fiction because you think it will be boring, or because it will take longer, try these!

Weightless: My Life as a Fat Man and How I Escaped by Gregg McBride.

Gregg McBride describes his weight loss journey and how he freed himself from food addiction. He describes how it all began in his early years,  and his struggles of being overweight while navigating a professional job being surrounded by “beautiful people”. McBride mentions his relationship with his mother, which wasn’t the greatest and describes his journey, more in a biographical way.

Recommendations: This book will resonate for male readers that are forgotten about with this topic. If you are looking for something that is more lighthearted and still from a male perspective I would check out I’m with Fatty: Losing 50 pounds in Fifty Miserable Weeks.

Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island by Regina Calcaterra.

This memoir is a retelling of a sad childhood spent on Long Island scrounging for food and walking on egg shells around an abusive mother. To make things worse, the author had several siblings that were going through the same type of abuse. Eventually the author becomes a successful woman, but even as an adult cannot shake what happened to her. The effects of abuse follow her from childhood well into adulthood. I found some of the sections from her foster home years a bit shaky, many details were left out on purpose or there weren’t enough interesting things to talk about.  Describing her neighborhood as a “stone’s throw” from the glamorous Hamptons is misleading. However, this book was a recollection of her memories as she experienced them, and was an easy and compelling read.

Recommendations:  Those that enjoyed A Child Called It, Long Islanders, and memoir and biography fans would enjoy this book. If you loved this book and want more, there is a sequel! Girl Unbroken was written by Regina Calcaterra and her sister Rosie Maloney.

If you want to venture into the world of non-fiction books, check out our non-fiction book recommendations on our library’s website!